Getting to know UW freshman Terrence Ross

Hadn’t had a chance to talk to Terrence Ross(left) since he signed recruiting papers with Washington in April. In any other year, signing the four-star recruit would have been viewed as a major accomplishment for UW. Ranked the No. 3 shooting guard in the country by Scout.com and the No. 43 senior in the nation by Rival.com, Ross had Kentucky, Kansas, Oregon and Oklahoma among his list of suitors.
Unfortunately, Ross was viewed as the consolation prize and overshadowed by his good friend Terrence Jones, who committed to UW before changing his mind and agreeing to play at Kentucky.
Since he’s been on campus and playing with the Huskies in pickup games, Ross has impressed teammates and proven he’s much more than a consolation prize.
We talked about a variety of subjects including why Matthew Bryan-Amaning has surprised him more than anyone else. Ross admitted Justin Holiday has been schooling him on the court and talks about his good friend Antoine Hosley, UW’s freshmen walk-on.
It’s a lengthy interview, so I’ll break it up and post the second part later today.(What do you envision when you think about the season?)

“From what the coaches are telling me, we have the chance to be really good. We’re going to have intensity, getting after it on the defensive end. It feels like we have a real long squad so we can mix things up on the defensive end. Offensively, we should get things like open breaks, dunks. We have a lot of shooters this year. We’re going to be a tough team to guard. So it should be fun.”(How long have you been with the team?) “A month of two.”(During that time, what have you learned about this group?) “On the court, they go hard. We all play like it’s our last game. We go at each other every day no matter if you’re a freshman, junior, sophomore or whatever. We all go at each other. Off the court, everybody is cool. Everybody has their own style. We all just have fun all the time.”(Being a newcomer, were you concerned about the chemistry?) “In summer school when I got here, I asked some questions like do y’all make freshmen do any certain things. And they were like nah that was in the past, guys like Quincy (Pondexter) and them. They used to do that. We all are kind of like the same age group, which is weird. I was thinking I would have to do all of these chores and different types of stuff. But we’re all cool. We’re just very close. We’re like brothers. We just get along so you don’t have to worry about none of that.”(Who has surprised you the most?) “It would be Matthew. When I was being recruited here, I usually heard Quincy (Pondexter), Isaiah (Thomas) and Venoy (Overton), but they never really told me about Matt. When I got here, I didn’t think he was going to be as nice as is. He’s a lot better than I thought he was. It was just a big surprise when I saw him play.”(In what ways?) “For a big man, he’s quick on his feet. He’s like a big man guard. He’s quick. He can dribble. He can push it. He’s got a mid-range (shot). I don’t see too many big men that can really guard anyone when it comes to like the perimeter and stuff. It’s a mismatch. If he’s bigger than a guy, he can take them inside. If the guy is same size as him, he’s quicker so he can do pump fakes to get his shot off. He’s got great foot work. He can get to the bucket or he can step out and shoot the jumper.”(I also hear his range is nearing the three-point line.) “He’s working on it everyday. Before workouts he’s always getting up shots. It’s scary.”(So where are you going to fit in this season?) “It’s hard to say right now because practice hasn’t started and I don’t even know the system that well yet. So it’s hard to say right now.”(How long have you been away from organized basketball?) “I would say about since January or February.”(Of this year?) “Yeah.”(Really. I thought when you transferred to Jefferson High (in Portland) you had to sit out.) “I practiced with them, but I wasn’t allowed to play with them. I haven’t played in organized games since February 2010. When I went to Montrose (Christian in Rockville, Md), I was there for half a year. I left Montrose in February and that was my last game. I came back to Portland and I tried to get re-instated to play with the team.”(Do you feel rusty?) “Nah. Because since February, I’ve been working out everyday with my trainer. When I came up here, I worked out. Went back home trained with my trainer. Came back here and played a lot of pickup (basketball) with older guys. I was in one summer league when I was up here.”(Which one?) “The Green Lake one.”(What did you do this summer to get ready for the season?) “I lifted weights a lot.”(Are you bigger?) “A lot.”(How much?) “When I got here, I was about 189. I’m about 198 now. I put on a lot of weight.”(Sound like you’ve been doing more than lifting. Sounds like you’ve been doing a lot of eating.) “I’ve been eating a lot. Even when I’m not hungry. Just eating.”(Why?) “I just want to get bigger. I need to get bigger because when I first got here, they kind of knocked me around a little bit. So I’m trying to get rid of that so I can just body up some people.”(Who knocked you around?) “Justin would knock me around, but it wouldn’t be like him knocking me around physically or personally. He’d just run me into screens and he’d just try to do a lot of on-ball stuff. But the worse was if nobody would call out screens, I’d run me into a big man or even a guard and he’d bruise me up and knock me up a little bit. So that’s the main thing. I’m trying to get broad in the shoulders so I can make that contact and just keep going.”(Other than lifting what have you been doing?) “Conditioning. I did a lot of conditioning. I did the mile a couple of times.”(How did you do when you ran it for the coaches and trainers?) “I ran a 5:19.”(Where does that rank?) “Guards had to make 5:30 and big men had to make 5:35.”(I heard Aziz N’Diaye ran it in 5:15.) “He did like 5:21 or 5:22. He’s real fast. He had the face mask on too. He had a broken nose so he couldn’t really breathe. If he had both nostrils, he probably would have got 5:10 or 5:05.”(Give me a quick synopsis of each member of the freshmen class.) “Desmond (Simmons) from what I’ve seen him play, he’s a combo-guard. He can also post up and play a little bit power forward. He can shoot the three.”(Combo guard? I think you’re the first to describe him that way.) “He can play the 2, 3, 4. He’s definitely getting bigger and he can do a lot more banging around on the low post. Then there’s Antoine, he’s real crafty. He plays hard. He goes after whoever is guarding him. He’s definitely one of those scrappy guards that do all of the little things to win. And he can also shoot it too.”(The rumor is, you got Antoine to come here. If that’s true, how did you do it?) “I was undecided and before I made a decision, I knew I was going to come here a couple months in advance. I told a couple of my friends I’m going to Washington and Antoine used to be one of the dudes I would tell I’m going to Washington. He said he was going to go to a school in San Bernardino.”(I remember at the Terrence Jones press conference Hosley said he was going to a school in California.) “Yeah he did. But after that, a couple of weeks later he was like ‘Terrence are you still going to the U-Dub?’ And he said, I’m going to. And I was like, for real? He was like yeah. And I thought he was playing with me because he usually does that. But he was for real. I said are you getting everything worked out and he said he was so he could be up here. After that I was like okay cool.”(How long have you known him?) “I’ve known Antoine since like the sixth grade.”(Is it nice to have somebody here that you’ve known for so long?) “He’s like my brother. Me, Terrence (Jones) and Antoine have all known each other since the sixth grade. We also had the same AAU team. Watching us grow up together and now going to college it’s like something out of movie.”